Metro: Here to stay in Wales
By Andy Pearson
A Greyhound coach trip yesterday brought the chance to take a fresh look at free daily the Metro.
As the bus made easy work of the Swansea-Cardiff route, it passengers made easy work of the paper. A stack on the seat behind the driver quickly diminished.
Reading habits seemed to match the product’s ethos. The high number of short stories and strong use of photography meant plenty of brief encounters within the 56 pages.
Regular information and stats panels were a hit. Readers lingered over a short, sharp Q&A with actor Donnie Yen, a short gossip column by Neil Sean and a column of science and discovery nibbles.
Editorially, it had a firm UK national appeal, with very little South Wales content.
The advertisers like it, that content also being very much of a national nature – for example, HMV, Co-op, Play.com, British Gas, Virgin Media, HSBC.
A local ads section towards the back carried material from the likes of Cardiff’s Natuzzi furnishings store, the city’s Gallery Loft Conversions and Llanishen home specialists Heatforce.
Few readers lingered over the Metro but they did read it, some as a bolt-on to their paid-for paper, others as a teaser for online content delivered via their smartphone, some as simply an aid to snoozing.
The Metro 2011 has found a niche and looks to be established as an integral part of the South Wales media landscape.
As more of us gravitate towards public transport, that position is likely to be strengthened.
